Photography; Freezing In Time Reflections Of Who I Am
“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
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For me, photography is like trying to grasp the eternal and the world of forms at the same time. A photo is my unique view of looking at the world. How do I see and experience the world? What do I chose to photograph?
I can express a lot of my experiences through words, but as Ansel Adams says; “when words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.”
Poetry in form
In the photo ‘Poetry in form’, I wanted to show the graceful forms of branches. But in such a way that the empty space functions as a canvas. The canvas or empty space for me represents the eternal. Forms appear in a finite tiemframe. I also find the minimal, almost Oriental aesthetics, very pleasing.
Out of the eternal all shapes and forms arise to appear in time. Only to dissolve back into the eternal.
‘Forms in emptiness’
The photo ‘Forms appear in emptiness’, is an example of ‘emptiness’ as the main subject. On the horizon we only see a tiny strip of land. The vertical piles are counteracting the horizontal lines to create tension and perspective in a space that is mainly empty.
Dare to rest in the emptiness of being. Behold the ever going cycles of appearing and disappearing.
‘Endings’
In the photo ‘The last light’, I captured the sunset at the moment it disappears behind a dike. I was lucky these beautiful clouds shaped themselves somehow to follow the line of the horizon.
In this photo it is all about the contrast of dark and light; another fascinating theme I use a lot in my work. The foreground became pitch black no longer revealing what it really is.
The fog makes the world abstract and much more accessible to recognize the magical and mystical dimensions, our earth also contains. This is the way I experience the world.
‘Magical world’
I made this photo when the floodplains where flooded, on a very foggy morning. Trees can be seen ‘knee deep’ in the water where normally there isn’t water. Also the sun desperately tries to break through the fog. Luckily it didn’t succeed.
Your true and deep nature is always reflected in the beautiful and sensual world of shapes, colors and forms.
‘Reflections’
I looked at the water surface while walking over a very small bridge on a beautiful sunny day. The clear water, leafs on the surface, shapes under the water; sunlight and reflections, form a beautiful composition.
What is real and what is unreal; is there a difference?
‘Unreal’
In the unedited photo ‘Unreal’, I captured this church towering into the foggy sky.
The perspective and the surrounding fog makes it look unreal and photo-shopped, which makes it all the more interesting to me. It is also almost like a bridge leading to another world. Recurring theme is a distinct and concrete shape appearing in the emptiness.
I could go on and on because I love photography. I use a DSLR camera Canon 800D, but also my mobile phone. Mobile phones nowadays give great results. I never emphasize too much on the gear but more on the results and the creative fulfillment. It is true that a good lens on a DSLR camera gives great results, but still it is all about the story you want to convey, and how I use the gear at hand.
I am not photographing because I want to capture beautiful images. It is way more like I have to pay attention to receive what wants to be seen and frozen in time. Photography for me is a sort of contemplation and meditation, where I rest in being, and not so much try to achieve something.
I hope you are inspired in some way after reading my story and looking at my photographs.
